Photo by Lloyd Brown, Stadium Journey
A recent study tracked the shopping habits of NFL fans to try and find which team’s fan base was clamoring for their squads merchandise the most. Studying key search terms such as “[Team] merch”, “[Team] merch near me”, and “Buy [Team] merch online”, online sportsbook Oddspedia calculated a total monthly search volume to determine their rankings.
Coming out on top with a monthly search volume of nearly 200,000 hits were the five-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers. According to the study, fans searched for “49ers jersey” more frequently than any other item in the United States – this is not surprising as the Niners are once again one of the top teams in the NFL, after being runner ups in the Super Bowl twice in the past four seasons.
Unsurprisingly, the second most popular merchandise search belongs to another NFL blue blood, the Dallas Cowboys, with just under 180,000 searches – “Dallas Cowboys cap” is their most searched/most sought-after item.
The resurgent Detroit Lions (~171,000 searches) came in third, followed by the reigning kings of the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs, in fourth place (~141,000). The Philadelphia Eagles (~140,000) rounded out the top five, while coming in last were the Arizona Cardinals, with a monthly search volume of just 10,500.
“Merchandise is an extremely important way for fans to express their support for a team, which is why NFL merch plays such an important role in the fan community,” said Callum Wilson, the spokesperson for Oddspedia. “This study illustrates how some teams stand out in the popularity of NFL merchandise, with teams like the 49ers, Cowboys, and Detroit Lions rising above others and even surpassing the popularity of local teams in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.”
The study found that Michigan, interestingly enough, has the highest average monthly search for NFL merchandise in the United States, followed by Delaware and Nevada. Of the states in the country that do not have a local team, Alabama had the highest number of searches, with fans clamoring for Miami Dolphins gear, while fans in Delaware are looking for Eagles merch.
“The top-ranking teams in this study all performed incredibly last season, which explains why there is such a demand for merchandise ahead of this season,” said Wilson. “This data demonstrates that the support for the top-ranking teams goes beyond having a local fan base and extends into nationwide popularity.”
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Follow Eric Moreno's Stadium Journey on Twitter at @EricMoreno6477.
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